Echoes Of the Heart (Discontinued)
by Meydral Skirata
Summary: As Fives mourns the loss of his brother, Echo, a Mando woman shows up in his life to provide him comfort. Will she be able to help heal the hole left behind by his dead brother. Now I know it's not a good summary, but please give it a chance.
1. Chapter 1: Fobidden Thoughts

_**I want to thank Jess Marilyn for inspiring me to write this with Aliit and Vencuyan. I hope all of you enjoy! I apologize for any spelling, grammar, or wording mistakes! I do not own anything except for what I create! Thank you and God Bless! **_

**Lower Levels of Coruscant, A few days after the rescue on Lola Sayu**

Buzzing lights, loud music, and the bitter taste of alcohol in his mouth. Fives tried everything to distract himself from Echo. Inevitably that led to him hitting a few bars, and having a few drinks. Not that he didn't already do that with Echo, but he was indulging into the more seedier ones. Fives shook his head. _There I go again! This drink is throwing me through a loop. _

Fives took another sip at his shot. The liquid hitting him with so much intensity he had to squint his eyes.

Behind him several twillek girls were dancing on miniature stages, and a few other female species hitting on some male guests. At one point a Zeltron girl had come up to Fives, attempting to be flirtatious, but he clearly expressed he wasn't interested. He couldn't help that he was drunk. _I just want my mind away from Echo. _

Even with the added pressure of the alcohol Fives couldn't stop thinking about his closest brother. After everything they went through together, their squad went through together, he was the last one standing. The last one actually alive. _First Droidbait, then Cutup, Hevy, and now Echo. Why Echo though!? He was the closest thing I had to an actual family! _The worst part were the dreams. Now every time he shut his eyes he couldn't get the image of a burnt helmet rolling toward his feet, or that handprint on his chest plate. _Why can't fate just leave things alone?! Everything was fine up until now! Now here I am, drinking, trying to pretend neither the war or myself don't exist._

Fives had finally decided he had had enough. He was getting a little too drunk. As soon as he tipped the bartender he got out of there.

If it wasn't the drinks that distracted them, it was his walks through the streets. It was relaxing to actually be moving around and not be clumped up in the barracks. Fives finally was able to take Echo off his mind and simply stroll along.

That was until he noticed two stragglers following him. A Rodian and a Kwalren. He didn't know if it was because he was drunk that he was antsy or if thy really did mean harm.

Occasionally a clone got jumped by a war protestor. Fives had seen clones come in injured from a beating plenty of times. Some people just thought violence was the answer.

Fives tried to act like he didn't notice them following. Then he saw an upcoming alley way and thought maybe he'd lose them there. So he turned into the alley. After taking a couple more turns he looked behind him. They were gone. Fives breathed a sigh of relief, but when he turned around they were right in front of him.

"Where do you think your going?" The Rodian asked.

Fives backed up a step from them. "I'm just going about business."

That made them laugh. "What business have you got being down here. You don't belong here!" The Rodian pushed at his chest plate, and Fives realized that he hadn't even seen the Kwalren move behind him.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. Just let me through." Fives said.

That only made them laugh more. "Why should we let you pass?" The Kwalren asked.

"Yeah, it's not like you've got somewhere to be." When the Rodian walked forward the Kwalren pushed him toward the Rodian. "Aren't you going to do something? Or is that not in your programming?"

That hurt! Fives always thought of himself as an actual person, that's what his squad believed, what 99 had always said. He hated being called a droid.

"Aww! I think Soldier Boy actually has feelings." The Kwalren said. The Rodian only continued to laugh at him.

By now Fives was sandwhiched in between them. He didn't know what to do. Unless one of them tried to hurt him he couldn't really do anything. So he just stood there, wondering if weather or not he might actually have to fight.

"Hey!" A mechanical female voice shouted. Fives looked behind him and notice a Mandalorian woman in blah and white armor. "Lay off struts!" She shouted again.

"You stay out of this Tasha!" The Kwalren shouted.

"Cool your shebs Cadus! You too Brosk!" The Rodian rolled her eye at the woman, and then just like that walked away. Same as the Kwalren. The Mando woman, supposedly named Tasha was now right beside him. "_Di'kuts_ them! You alright _ner vod_?"

Fives understood what she was saying, many of the clones new _Mandoa _at the request of Jango Fett, what surprised Fives was the amount of concern he heard in her voice."No I'm fine. Thank you ma'am!" He was just starting to walk away, but then she stopped him.

"You sure? If there's some place you need to be I can-" "No ma'am. Thank you!" Fives hurriedly walked away. Despite that he was grateful for her help he was uncomfortable. The amount of concern she portrayed was shocking. Fives had been around civvies before, and no one, except his brothers, actually acted like they cared about him.

It was most likely just a one time experience though.

Fives just brushed the whole thing off, and continued walking.

_**I understand if this seems a bit scruffy, it was kind of hard to write. I hope all of you liked it though! Please leave polite and inspirational reviews! Thank you and God Bless!**_

_Vocab: _

_Shebs - Backside _

_Di'kut - Moron _

_Ner Vod - My Brother _


	2. Chapter 2: Run Ins

_**Thank you all for your support, you're just awesome! This chapter is a little better than the first I promise! I apologize for any spelling, grammar, or wording mistakes! I hope all of you enjoy! I don't own anything, except Tasha and a few other characters. Thank you and God Bless!**_

**Arca Barracks**

Fives reached the barracks some time later.

He ran into a few brothers from the 501st, and dropped in just to say hi, but he found Rex just as he reached his room. "Captain." Fives acknowledged him.

"Hey Fives. You doing alright?"

Fives was stopped by that question, just before he opened his door.

Fives was close to Rex, and wanted to tell him the truth, the thing was Fives didn't know if he was ready to tell him how he really felt. He wasn't ready to talk about Echo, that was for sure. "I'm fine." He finally lied.

"You sure?"

Fives paused in entering his bunk. "If your making sure I'm not suicidal I can assure you I'm fine there." Fives was amazed by the amount of venom he heard in his own voice.

"I'm not worried about that. I'm only concerned about you. You know, in case you wanted to talk to someone."

Fives sat on the small bed. "All the talking in the galaxy wouldn't even do me good." As he finished he began removing his armour plates.

"I understand. But you never know," Rex entered the room and shut the door behind him. "sometimes it helps to get it off your chest."

"The only thing I need to get off me is what's in my mind."

Rex sat down in the console chair across the room. "Well, what is it that you want to get off your mind?"

"If I talk about it I'd only be sticking it to my brain even more. And that's something I don't desire." Fives stopped removing his plates, and avoided eye contact with Rex by staring at his boot.

"Fives listen. I know how you feel, I've lost close brothers too. I don't want to lose any of my brothers period. But, eh...life us unkind. Even when we're happy, things just happen." Fives didn't move from his frozen state. Although he appreciated that Rex wanted to help, he just couldn't stomach it. "Look, I'm not saying you need to get over Echo, I just -"Fives cut Rex off "Rex! Seriously, I don't want to talk right now."

Fives was happy that silence had finally fallen upon the room, but he wondered if he was also right to brush Rex off.

"Alright." Rex spoke softly. "Well, if you ever want to talk, just come to me." With that Fives watched as Rex left the room, and Fives was left to sit in the alone in the darkness.

**Coco Town: ****Dex's Diner: Two Days Later**

Dex's in it's usual state of greasiness was heartwarming to Tasha. The old Besalisk had been looking out for her ever since she first came to Coruscant, and while working for him she had developed a deep respect for him. After all, he had helped her out when she asked him.

The chime sounded as she opened the door. The diner was packed today. _Good for me. The more customers we get the more I get paid. _

"Tasha!" Dex's grim voice shouted.

"Hey Dexter!" Tasha replied.

"Enjoy your vacation?" Dex asked.

"Yeah. It was pretty good. I had fun." Truthfully she had gone on another hunt. Working for Dex provided her enough to pay her bills, but she still needed money to buy things she needed, and more.

"Well, I'm glad you did. But it's over now, and it's time to get back to work. Get your apron on, and start your waitress shift."

"You got it." Tasha rounded into the back and began changing out of her armour.

Today was definitely busy. Stragglers left and right everywhere demanding food, drinks, anything they demanded. Occasionally a few pilots tried to hit on her, but Tasha knew how to handle men, and she clearly let them know she wasn't interested. Besides she could always show them what a Mandalorian kiss looked like. A few clone troopers came in every now and then. Tasha always treated them as special customers.

Tasha had family in the _Cuyvil'dar. _Despite that she hadn't heard from them the ten years they were in, once the war started she found out about all the clones. Tasha's heart went out to them. To her they were men who were treated inhumanely. _Flesh droids? Ph! For Manda's sake they are people, men! No matter how they were made or where they come from, they are still men! And they should be treated like so._ Tasha rolled her eyes at her own thoughts. She thought it disgusting that the Republic opposed slavery, yet they were in command of an army of slaves.

Tasha noticed a table she had been waiting. The customers had left and it needed to be cleaned. She started by picking up all the strewn utensils and plates, and finally wiped it down with her rag. Once she had dropped it off in the kitchen to be cleaned she turned around, and stopped dead in her tracks. There at the table she had just cleaned up was that trooper she had met in the alleyway a couple days ago. _Huh. What a coincidence! _ Tasha approached the table, and he didn't even notice her as she stood right in front if him. "Hey!"

He turned to look at her, and she could as much surprise to see her on his face as she was to see him. "Hi." He said.

_"_Nice to see you again."

"Yeah uh...It's nice to see you too." His discomfort made her heart really go out to him.

"Hey listen, about Cadus and Brosk. If they did anything to you I can talk to them." She said referring to the other men in the alleyway that night.

"No ma'am it's fine. Just had a run in." He said without staggering this time. _Hopefully that means he's a little more comfortable. _

"Enough with the ma'am. The name's Tasha." Tasha extended her hand. "Tasha Banderick."

He accepted her hand. "Fives. ARC Trooper Fives."

Tasha extracted her hand from his. "ARC Trooper!"

He blushed a little and looked away. "Yeah."

Tasha felt bad that she had embarrassed him. _But he really does look like kinda cute blushing like that. _Tasha shook that thought out of her head. Now was not the time to doggle. "Being the tough guy you are I'm pretty sure you could have knocked those struts out in one punch. Why didn't you?"

Fives made a skeptic face. "Guess I was just a little quezy from drinking."

Tasha chuckled at him. "Tasha!" Dex's loud voice ringed through the diner. "There are other customers beside that one."

"Alright Dex! Alright!" She waved Dex down. "Sorry about that. So, what'll it be?"

Fives had ordered a java juice with nerf steak. He and Tasha would occasionally stop and talk. He had to admit she was pretty nice to talk to. A very sweet person. Smiling all the time and had a nice aura about her. One that spoke clearly of her character.

She seemed like someone who just wanted to help people. To make them feel better about life in times of need.

As Fives walked back to the barracks he thought about Tasha. About her concerned nature. _I know she and I aren't officially friends, but still, she is nice to talk to. And she seems like she understands, or would understand if she needed to. _As Fives rounded the corner to the transport he decided to pay another visit to Dex's soon. At least to see Tasha. _I hope she doesn't think of me as a waste of time to talk to, but I guess there's only one way to find out. _

_**How is it so far? PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! Thank you and God Bless!**_

Vocab:

_Manda - _Heaven

_Cuyvil'dar - Those ho no longer exist ( Mandalorian clone trainers on Kamino before the war)_


	3. Chapter 3: Authors Note

_**After due consideration, I have decided to rewrite this. I don't like the way it is turning out. Don't worry though,I already have the new plot in writing! I may even have it up within the next day or two. I plan to replace these current chapters with the new ones, therefor deleting this fic all together. However, if you wish me to keep it up, I will. But this will be the discontinued version. Let me know right away! God Bless! **_


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